Portable weight strip for adjustably resting upon an uneven surface; and method

ABSTRACT

A weight strip constructed from a plurality of stacked sheets of elastomeric material slackly assembled for resting upon an uneven surface.

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of my U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/208,000 filed May 26, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The field of this invention is convenience devices for placement on a substrate or member to thereby hold it in place.

PRIOR ART

[0003] United States Patents:

[0004] Kratz U.S. Pat. No. 1,883,965 1932

[0005] Fischer U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,571 1937

[0006] Schuyler Re. U.S. Pat. No. 24,276 1957

[0007] Schuyler U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,399 1962

[0008] Hirst U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,907 1963

[0009] Bergen U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,973 1963

[0010] Miller U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,812 1967

[0011] Graves U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,876 1975

[0012] Osborn U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,447 1987

[0013] Hirst shows a mechanism for adjustably supporting a load above it. Bergen, Miller, and the Schuyler patents relate to shock absorbing bumpers for ships at loading docks. Graves and Osborn relate to holding down a tarpaulin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0014] In agriculture it is sometimes necessary to fumigate a large area of soil. For that purpose an established practice is to place a tarpaulin over the area to be fumigated, and hold down the edges of the tarpaulin with whatever means are available in an effort to provide an effective gas seal for the area underneath.

[0015] In highway construction work it is common practice to employ portable signs that are supported upon the roadway to provide direction to travelers and workers. Since such signs have a large flat surface upon which the information is displayed, that same flat surface is necessarily exposed to the wind, which sometimes results in the sign being blown over.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0016] My novel method of creating a hold-down weight against an uneven surface includes the steps of providing a plurality of sheets of elastomeric material each of which has at least one edge that is relatively straight, and which also has two openings a fixed distance apart; arranging the sheets into an elongated pile with the openings aligned; stringing a pair of cord-like members through the aligned openings; fastening the cord-like members with relatively low tension so that they are at least somewhat slack; and then laying the elongated pile upon the uneven surface such that the relatively straight edge of each sheet engages the uneven surface and a common transverse axis of the two openings of each sheet is at least generally parallel to the uneven surface.

[0017] My invention provides a novel weight strip including a plurality of substantially identical flat pad members each having a spaced pair of holes therethrough and each having a relatively straight support surface below the holes which is generally parallel to a common plane of the holes; a pair of cord-like members passing through the respectively corresponding holes in all of the pad members to arrange the pad members into a string; and securing means on the cord-like members to confine the pad members in a slack relationship so that when the support surfaces of various pad members of the weight strip are resting upon a substrate having an irregular surface the cord-like members may then bend to permit gaps to occur between some otherwise adjacent pad member edges.

[0018] According to the preferred form of my invention the flat pad members or sheets of elastomeric material are preferably cut from used automobile tires.

[0019] Thus the present invention provides a portable, economical, compact, relatively dull-edged weather resistant weight strip that is adaptable for use over uneven support surfaces.

DRAWING SUMMARY

[0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an individual elastomeric sheet or flat pad member in accordance with the preferred form of my invention;

[0021]FIG. 2 shows a number of the pad members secured together to provide a weight strip in accordance with the invention;

[0022]FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing one of the cords that sequentially tie the pad members together;

[0023]FIG. 4 is an elevation view showing a weight strip in accordance with the invention, resting upon an uneven substrate or surface;

[0024]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portable highway sign upon a roadway that is being held in place by weight strips of the present invention on each of its four legs;

[0025]FIG. 6 is a cross-section view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5 and showing one of the weight strips holding one of the legs, the adaptation of the weight strip to the leg resulting in spaces between adjacent edges of some of the pad members that would otherwise be in face-to-face contact;

[0026]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternate form of pad member in accordance with the invention; and

[0027]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternative form of weight strip according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (FIGS. 1 Through 6)

[0028] A large number of sheets A of elastomeric material, preferably but not necessarily identical in size and shape, are fastened together in a long string or weight strip S. The two cords 20 that hold the sheets together must be somewhat slack. As shown in FIG. 3, the cords may be sufficiently long that they extend somewhat beyond one end of the strip when all of the sheets or flat pad members are in tight face-to-face contact.

[0029] The cord-like members 20 are secured in a slack relationship. This may preferably be done by tying each cord at the corresponding end of the weight strip, but other methods of securing are also possible. For example, the cord ends may be tied or welded to the respective end pads of the pile, or attached at different points within the pile to provide the slack relationship. The purpose of the slack relationship is so that when the weight strip rests upon a substrate of irregular configuration with the support surfaces of its various pad members engaging different portions of the substrate, the weight strip may adapt itself to the irregular configuration of the substrate.

[0030] It is necessary for the sheets to have one side edge 10 that is at least relatively straight. The pair of holes 11, 12 cut through each pad member have a fixed separation distance and are in a common plane that is generally parallel to the resting edge 10. This makes it convenient to line up the sheets into the weight strip or pile and ensure that the resting edge 10 of all the sheets or pad members rest upon the substrate or ground or object that is to be held down.

[0031] In the preferred embodiment the sheets or pads are rectangular, as that shape is easy to cut from used rubber tires without waste of material. However, the shape of each sheet may for example be a half circle as shown in FIG. 7, or a quarter circle, a triangle, or something else.

[0032] The method of use is as follows. A large number of sheets of elastomeric material which have one relatively straight edge and are of relatively similar size and shape are placed together in a stack. Each sheet has two openings 11, 12, and the openings have the same fixed spacing on all sheets so they can be conveniently strung together. Then, utilizing the aligned pairs of openings in the sheets, two cords 20 are sequentially threaded through the two sets of aligned openings to form the stack of sheets S and to hold the sheets together.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 4, the weight strip or stack may then be turned on its side, and rested upon an uneven surface T, which may be the edge of a tarpaulin that in turn rests upon the ground. As shown in FIG. 6, a weight strip extending over the leg of the sign results in some spaces occurring between adjacent edges of the pad members that would otherwise be in face-to-face contact. This necessarily involves some bending of the cord-like members 20.

Alternate Forms

[0034] As shown in FIG. 7, individual pad members may have a half circle configuration, the curved outer edge being designated as 32 and the straight resting edge as 14.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 8, one of the pad members may be made with a protruding handle portion 38 with hand grip 40, which when placed in about the center of a weight strip provides a convenient method of holding or carrying it.

[0036] While many modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention has been fully disclosed in its presently preferred form to fully comply with the requirements of the patent laws, and it should therefore be understood that the scope of the invention is to be judged only in accordance with the appended claims. 

What I claim is:
 1. The method of creating a hold-down weight against an uneven surface, comprising the steps of: selecting a plurality of sheets of elastomeric material each of which has at least one edge that is relatively straight, and which also has two openings a fixed distance apart; arranging the sheets into an elongated pile with the openings aligned; stringing a pair of cord-like members through the aligned openings; fastening the cord-like members with relatively low tension so that they are at least somewhat slack; and then laying the elongated pile upon the uneven surface such that the relatively straight edge of each sheet engages the uneven surface and a common transverse axis of the two openings of each sheet is at least generally parallel to the uneven surface.
 2. A weight strip comprising: a plurality of sheets of elastomeric material, each sheet having at least one side edge that is relatively straight; each sheet also having two openings that are substantially a fixed distance apart, the transverse axis of the two openings being at least generally parallel to the relatively straight side edge of the sheet; the sheets being stacked together to form an elongated pile with the respective openings being essentially aligned; a pair of cord-like members strung through the aligned openings; and the ends of the cords being secured such that they are somewhat slack so that the elongated pile when laid upon an uneven surface with the relatively straight edge of each individual sheet resting upon that surface may conveniently adjust itself to that surface, the cords inside the strip bending as necessary to achieve that result.
 3. A weight strip comprising: a plurality of substantially identical flat pad members each having a spaced pair of holes therethrough and each having a relatively straight support surface below the holes which is generally parallel to a common plane of the holes; a pair of cord-like members passing through the respectively corresponding holes in all of the pad members to thereby arrange the pad members into a string; and securing means on the cord-like members at the ends of the string to confine the pad members in a slack relationship so that when the support surfaces of various pad members of the weight strip are resting upon a substrate having an irregular surface the cord-like members may bend to permit gaps to occur between some otherwise adjacent pad member edges.
 4. A weight strip comprising: a plurality of substantially identical flat pad members, each pad member having a spaced pair of holes therein and having a support surface below the holes that extends generally parallel to the common plane of the holes; a pair of cord-like members strung through corresponding holes in all of the pad members to confine them into a string; and securing means supporting the cord-like members in a slack relationship so that when the weight strip rests upon a substrate of irregular configuration with the support surfaces of its various pad members engaging different portions of the substrate, the weight strip may adapt itself to the irregular configuration of the substrate and some spaces may then occur between otherwise adjacent edges of the pad members.
 5. A weight strip comprising: a plurality of substantially identical flat pad members, each having a spaced pair of holes therein and having a lower edge with an elongated surface that is below and generally parallel to a common plane of the holes; a pair of cord-like members passing through respectively corresponding holes in all of the pad members to thereby arrange the pad members into a string; and securing means on the cord-like members to support the pad members in a slack relationship, whereby the strip may be positioned above an irregular substrate with the lower edge surfaces of the pad members engaging and resting upon the substrate and the cord-like members bending to provide longitudinal gaps between some adjacent pad member edges.
 6. The method of making a weight strip comprising the steps of: (a) cutting a plurality of flat pad members from discarded automobile tires, each pad member having a resting edge; (b) cutting through each pad member a pair of holes having a fixed separation distance and whose common plane is generally parallel to the resting edge; (c) arranging the pad members into a stack with corresponding openings aligned; (d) passing a pair of flexible cord-like members sequentially through respectively corresponding sets of the aligned openings; and (e) securing the cord-like members but leaving sufficient slack such that the weight strip when placed upon an uneven surface can bend until spaces appear between pad member edges that were otherwise in face-to-face contact.
 7. The method of securing an object upon a surface, comprising the steps of: resting the object upon the surface; and placing upon the object a weight strip comprising a plurality of sheets of elastomeric material, in which each sheet has a resting edge that engages and rests upon the object, and the sheets being secured by at least one slack, flexible, cord-like member threaded through corresponding openings in the sheets. 